Heart of Darkness

Chapter - 23

"I-uhm Adrian, I have to be at Eli's by 6. I don't think-"

"I'll handle it." Surprised that he would not just dismiss the words, I stayed quiet as he slipped off of me after an intense yet short make-out session, I shot up to right my crumbled clothes, attention from him momentarily diverted, the sound of him saying 'hello' making me look up from the floor where I was trying to look for the earring that had fallen somewhere.

I lunged at him when I saw that he was on the phone, a yell almost leaving me when he pushed me back down on my side with a palm on my face and greeted Eli. "I'm just calling to inform you that I'll drop Hailey off at yours by tomorrow evening. No, she won't be there today. Yes, she is with me. I'm taking her somewhere... Fucking hell Eleanor, I've let you get away with your threats plenty times now, you know I won't. That's enough. Don't make me call your husband."

Heart warmed by the no doubt very elaborate threat Eli must've given him, I grinned at the annoyed huff that left him as he cut the call, smiling like a lunatic when he turned his narrowed eyes at me. "Good talk?"

"Oh shut up already." Laughing, I moved the seat back up to get my laptop, knowing that South Hampton was another hour of travel, making a sound of outrage when Adrian grabbed both my hands and pulled me on him. "You've been overworking yourself Hailey. You've barely slept in the past few days. Get some sleep. Lord knows you're not getting any once we get there."

"It's fine Adrian, I can-"

"This wasn't a question. You need rest. I want you awake and ready for me the second we step foot in my house. It's another hour and a half. Get some shut eye." Grumbling, I slipped in the space beside him, taking out my phone from the front pocket of the car seat and going through some emails, drowsiness hitting me with each boring, long email I briefed through, proving the fucker's point of me being tired.

Done trying to fight it, I put the phone back, leaning against the shoulder that was at the perfect height to provide a pillow-y support. "This doesn't mean anything. It's my own decision to *yawn* get some rest." I mumbled, smiling softly at the chuckle he gave that shook me.

"Of course it is little monster. When do you ever do something you do not want to?"

"Mm-m. Now you're starting to get it."

The next I came back to the real world was in the hold of a certain man who just would not let go, the interior of the house he was walking us into so rustic and so homey that I could not imagine it being his for a second. "Why here?"

He looked down, perhaps startled that I had woken up, the hard look he generally carried in his eyes, one I had gotten so used to dissolving just barely, the corners softening just a tad, in a manner that made me want to smile. "It's a... special place for me, I guess."

"How?"

"When did we decide to ask each other incredibly personal questions?" Ouch.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to pry." I muttered hurriedly, leaving his face to look around the place again, the fireplace that was right now not burning but yet ready, the stone walls that I was sure were just a slight bit cold to touch and the wooden furniture that was so different from his usual black granite or marble preferences.

"Just because it's different does not mean it's not me Doxon. There are sides I can show and sides I cannot. If I were to show off a place that looked like the outside of a happy go lucky family, I would have a million fucking people trying to attack me in hopes that I had gotten weak. Images are everything." Sometimes, when I remembered glimpses of vulnerable talks like this one right here, I believed Adrian to be a man people would call me crazy to have hopes in.